[Dead Days Of Summer] Day 5: The Creepiest Video Game Easter Eggs

I love myself a good video game, and I’m sure you do too. Usually, a game has to really suck me in for me to want to spend a lot of time with it, as I’m usually not the type of gamer who invests dozens of hours into a single game. Horror games, Minecraft, an assortment of RTS titles, and Skyrim are some exceptions to that rule, but for the most part, once I’m finished with a game, it’s on to the next shiny new thing. Unfortunately, this means I rarely spend enough time exploring these incredible worlds made up of bits, bytes, pixels, and sprites to find the Easter eggs that lie hidden within them. Actually, you know what? If the following list of creepy video game Easter eggs is anything to go by, maybe that’s not so bad.

Assassin’s Creed II – Was that the Kraken?

Let’s start things off real light with an Assassin’s Creed II secret that would unleash the Kraken! Well, not really. There’s a dungeon in the game where you could look out in to the water for a few seconds to kick off a cut scene that would show a glowy eyed tentacle beast–it looks like a giant squid or octopus–that just glides silently by before disappearing into the inky water. I predict the beast’s glorious return during that insanely awesome ocean battle in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed III.

Halo 3 – The Monkey Family

All right, I don’t know what it is about this that creeps me out so much, but this just unnerves me. The worst part about this is this is the only Easter egg I managed to find when I played the game, and on my first time through, no less. Nestled into a little alcove on the side of a mountain is a family of monkey people who just sit there. They have no purpose, their expressions are lifeless as if they had all gathered to stare at a sunset before something happened that froze them in time. What makes this worse is you can shoot them and they bleed. Every time I playfully shot one right between the eyes (mostly because I’m a psychopathic dick) I never realized that behind those eyes a creature was screaming in pain.

Hitman: Contracts – Haunted Hotel

Surprisingly enough, I’ve never played a Hitman game. I’ve always wanted to, but never gotten around to it. Sadly, because of this I missed out on a pretty eerie secret hidden in the game that takes you to a haunted hotel. As a series, Hitman has always striven for realism, and that only makes this Easter egg all the creepier as you find yourself surrounded by the tormented spirits of people who were almost definitely murdered in unspeakable ways.

Silent Hill: Downpour – Room 302

Ok, so this one might not be all that creepy, but despite spending an unhealthy amount of time with Downpour I somehow managed to miss this little gem. Hidden in the wet and foggy town of Silent Hill is an apartment that looks remarkably similar to the room from Silent Hill 4: The Room. The only thing that could’ve made this creepier is if Murphy would’ve run into one of those things with the twin baby heads that walked on its hands (because it had no legs, naturally) and charged at you while it emitted what I imagine is the sound the Devil’s alarm clock makes.

Half-Life 2 – Zombie Sounds

Half-Life 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and without a doubt the most memorable moment for me was when you stumbled across the desolate town of Ravenholm. The secluded, zombie-infested town provided a lovely dose of survival horror to the game, and while the zombies are unsettling on their own, if you play the sounds they shriek at you backwards, things become exponentially more frightening. They’re unintelligible in-game, coming across like a bunch of freaky sounds, but when they’re played backwards you can hear them yelling “Oh God, help me, please help me!” So either they’re reliving their last moments alive, or they’re all in serious agony, begging you to save them. Either way, it’s fucking terrifying.

Did I miss anything? Let me know what your favorite creepy video game Easter eggs are in the comments below!